beergeek.TV

Bringing You the World One Pint at a Time…

We created beergeek.TV to give people an alternative view of travel; where good beer could stand alongside museums, castles and cathedrals as a must see or do. To that end, we show how, with a little knowledge and preparation, anyone can be a beer traveler. We want to promote the discovery and exploration of other cultures through beer and show that not only hardcore beer lovers can enjoy the experience.

Early episodes run from 4 to 7 minutes in length. More recent episodes run 14 to 18 minutes. The goal of beergeek.TV is to help the viewer experience the fun and enjoyment of being a beer traveler and hopefully inspire them to embark on their own beer adventures

Episode Guide

ID

Title

Description

Date Filmed

63

Canada Eh: the Atlantic Edition

Always looking for new beer adventures, we took the advantage of a trip to Maine to cross over into Maritime Canada to make a quick visit to Nova Scotia. Over five days, we watched the tides on the Bay of Fundy, experienced Halifax via an Urban Beer Hike and fell in love with beauty and charms of Cape Breton. Most importantly, we discovered a thriving beer scene on Canada's east coast.

Getting back to London to explore its fast growing beer scene was always something in the backs of our minds. With another brewery century-mark within reach, it seemed like the perfect time to return to British capital. With a whole week in the city, Merideth and I had a long list of beer-related and tourist things on our agenda. But with London's exploding beer scene we hardly found time to play normal tourist. And we only made a dent in our beer list.

One of our lost episodes, we visited the Greater Philadelphia area for a long weekend in the Spring of 2012. It was mainly a trip to visit our friend Andie at Victory Brewing, but we took the opportunity to explore beyond the Keystone State. By traveling just a few hours we experienced the beer scenes in Delaware and Maryland, as well.

Though we had visited British Columbia a number of times, we took the opportunity of a niece's wedding to explore the province's growing beer culture. During our trip, we traveled from Vancouver Island, up to Whistler, finishing in Vancouver. We experienced as much of the beer scene as possible in a quick week.

After a busy and stressful summer selling Teachings From The Tap, we badly needed a vacation. And we could think of no better place than our happy place: Germany. Starting in Franconia, we explored the countryside, as well as completed the Bamberg breweries. After a relaxing few days in Munich, we traveled south to the Bavarian Alps to drink beer, hike and go to the top of Germany.

In the last part of our two week Australian beer adventure, we explore the beer scenes around Perth, Fremantle and the Swan Valley. Along the way, we visit a sprawling gnome village, embark on an Urban Beer Hike in Fremantle, seek out koalas and both reach the 700 brewery milestone.

In the second part of our two week Australian beer adventure, we visit the world-famous Margaret River wine region in Western Australia to explore its vibrant beer scene. In our short time there, we found more to love than just great beer.

In the first of three episodes from our two week Australian beer adventure, we quickly explore the area around Victoria's capital. Beginning in Melbourne, we completed a loop in four days around Port Phillip Bay, finishing up back in Melbourne for an Urban Beer Hike.

With a German trip derailed by high airfares, we needed to come up with plan B. The quick and easy choice was the budding beer mecca of Bend, Oregon. Closing out 2011 in Central Oregon, we each visited our 666th brewery, enjoyed a rainy, then snowy Bend Urban Beer Hike and endured a seemingly fruitless quest for tater tots.

We had visited North Carolina on two previous occasions, but beer travel was never the focus. With its growing beer scene, Asheville was the logical location for our first serious beer foray into the Tar Heel state. For our beer adventure in Western North Carolina, we were joined by our good friends and fellow beer travelers Matt and Michelle.

Since our last visit during the Year in Beer in 2008, we've been meaning to get back to Seattle. The chance to see the Seattle Sounders play one of the world's great soccer clubs, Manchester United, was the push we needed to make the return journey to the Pacific Northwest. Getting to experience the Seattle beer scene again was an added bonus.

Our trip from Burlington, VT to Portland, ME was not only a celebration of our 22nd wedding anniversary, but also a milestone for beergeek.TV. When we started chronicling our beer adventures on video back in 2007, I am not sure we thought four years later we would be releasing our 50th episode of One Pint of a Time. But here we are!

On an overcast day that threatened rain, we made the journey to the Anderson Valley for the 15th edition of the Boonville Beer Festival. Despite it's fame, this was our first time attending this popular Northern California beer fiesta. Besides drinking great beer and seeing friends, we were at Boonville to see what put the "legendary" in the The Legendary Boonville Beer Festival.

Our tenth visit to Portland was our first not attending the Oregon Brewers Festival. Admittedly it was quite strange walking through the waterfront park and not seeing the familiar large white festival tents. With no festival to attend, we were free of concentrate on our primary mission, adding breweries to the List. We visited outlying breweries that in previous years we had missed. And we enjoyed a wonderful urban beer hike on a glorious springtime Saturday.

Ever since our first visit to Anchorage three years ago, we've talked about returning. Despite all those conversations centering on a summer visit, the lure of Alaska in January to relive our first Year in Beer trip was too strong to resist. Braving frigid temperatures, we immersed ourselves again in the welcoming Alaskan beer community. We revisited our favorite Anchorage beer spots and also ventured into the frozen tundra for the first time. Thanks to our Alaskan friends for making it another great time!

Due to time constraints, the last beergeek.TV episode, Euro Christmas 2010 Part II, used only a part of the footage shot at the Kerstbierfestival. This episode is an extended look at one of our favorite beer festivals. In an era where beer festivals are becoming more and more tests of strength and fortitude, the Kerstbierfestival is a breath of fresh air. When we tell people about the festival, the first thing we say is that you can use your "inside voice" as there is no loud din drowning out conversation. Long lines to get the latest hip beer don't exist. In fact, there are no beer lines to get some of the best, most unique or rarest beers in the world. Truly, the Kerstbierfestival is a gem in our eyes.

Our whirlwind European tour covered six cities in six countries over two weeks. The non-stop itinerary included two favorites: London and Dublin, two new cities: Hamburg and Copenhagen, and two that we wanted to explore further: Amsterdam and Brussels. In this last installment, we explore the beer scenes of Amsterdam and Brussels as well as attending one of our favorite beer events, the Kerstbierfestival. And we deal with the joys of having our flight home canceled.

Our whirlwind European tour covered six cities in six countries over two weeks. The non-stop itinerary included two favorites, London and Dublin; two new cities, Hamburg and Copenhagen, as well as two that we wanted to explore further, Amsterdam and Brussels. In this first of two parts, we explore the beer scenes of Dublin, Hamburg and Copenhagen.

This was our third straight year in Denver attending the Great American Beer Festival. After our first visit we thought we could take or leave America's largest beer tasting. But since then we have grown quite fond of GABF.

We were excited to return to Portland for our ninth Oregon Brewers Festival. But with two previous beergeek.TV episodes already covering the West Coast's best beer fest, we needed to do something different. Driving the 700 some odd miles to Portland was our brilliant solution.

It had been nine years since our first and only visit to the Czech capital and, admittedly, we were somewhat reluctant to return. We find the Czech Republic a difficult country in which to travel, a place we just don't feel comfortable. Prague poses a challenge to any tourist, but for a beer geek, the rewards are well worth the effort.

For two years, we'd been dreaming of watching the world's greatest sporting event while in Germany. Arriving the last day of group play for both the United States and Germany, we stayed through the quarterfinal stage of the World Cup. This trip will always hold a special place for us. Watching Germany demolish both England and Argentina, the intensity of the matches, and the joys of the celebrations were all absolutely remarkable. But what we'll remember most is that we spent these great beer travel moments with friends.

We knew Chicago was a good beer town. We just hadn't made it there yet. Lucky for us, opportunity knocked when our friends and fellow beer travelers Matt and Michelle asked us to meet them in the Windy City for a long weekend. Two and half days gave us just enough time to get a taste of the Greater Chicago beer scene. We visited a dozen breweries and three beer bars during our stay. Chicago has a lot to offer the beer traveler and we can't wait to return.

As Northern Californians, we view any trip to the Southland with a certain amount of dread. But an emerging craft beer scene encouraged us to make the journey on Chris' s birthday weekend to see for ourselves. The visit was an eye opening experience and we actually look forward to our next trip to the Southland.

This year's celebration of Bay Area beer culture comprised over 240 events, from Santa Cruz to Sebastopol. Last year, we only attended events on the weekends. This year, we went all out; only taking two days off of the ten. We drank lots of beer, attended our first Pliny the Younger release, first Double IPA Festival, Toronado Barleywine Festival and host of other events. And we can't forget the sausages, cupcakes, cheese and ice cream that accompanied all that beer.

Merideth turned 40 in December and she didn't really embrace the milestone. Instead of making our normal holiday pilgrimage to Europe, we decided a trip to Australia was what Merideth needed to cure the turning 40 blues. This trip marked our first beer adventure outside of North America or Europe. In two weeks of beer travel, we journeyed from Sydney to Melbourne and then back.

Merideth turned 40 in December and she didn't really embrace the milestone. Instead of making our normal holiday pilgrimage to Europe, we decided a trip to Australia was what Merideth needed to cure the turning 40 blues. This trip marked our first beer adventure outside of North America or Europe. In two weeks of beer travel, we journeyed from Sydney to Melbourne and then back.

Our trip to Maine in October was the last of three successive quickie beer trips. Focusing on Portland, Maine's largest city and brewing center, our goal was try a bunch of local beer, eat a lot of lobster and to reach the 500 brewery milestone. In our two day trip, we visited Maine's craft beer pioneers as well as some of the newcomers.

Despite our whining about the one ounce pours, the Great American Beer Festival member's session is now a highlight of our beer year. Beyond the vast beer choices, GABF is the one time of year where most of our beer friends from around the country gather in one place. Good beer, good friends... that's what it's all about.

This was our first trip to New York City. We always try to maximize the experiences in our beer travels but, even for us, the list for this trip was ambitious. We had 32 beer places to visit and only three days to do it. Turns out, the number wasn't our biggest obstacle to reaching our goal.

We are firm believers in beer needing to be tried in context of its culture. "Three Cities, Three Styles" was born out of this belief. We visited three German cities, Dortmund, Duesseldorf and Cologne, that each has it's own unique style of beer. Over three days, we got to experience each beer style in the place of its birth. That is something special.

We didn't know what to expect from our journey to Wales. It was only a friend's off-handed comment that brought us across the Irish Sea in the first place. With a little research, we learned several things about Wales; they have a strange language, there is a really tall mountain and, most importantly, there is a burgeoning craft beer movement brewing real ale.

This was our ninth trip to the Emerald Isle and she continues to be one of our favorite countries to visit. Throughout our trip, we focused on Irish Craft Beer, including ending our trip by attending the Easter Beer Festival in Cork. Over the years, we have met and befriended a number of people in the Irish craft beer community and this episode is really about their efforts to promote good beer in Ireland.

We were back in Denver to meet up with our friends and fellow beer travelers, Matt and Michelle, who we had not seen in almost a year. Over a long weekend, we drank beer in Denver, Golden and Boulder and attended the Beerdrinker of the Year contest. It is meeting up with good friends that makes beer travel all the more enjoyable.

SF Beer Week was a ten-day celebration of the Bay Area's brewing heritage, and a showcase for the breweries and beer culture of Northern California. From the North Bay to Monterey, beer fans gathered at all kinds of beer related events to celebrate "America's Original Craft Beer Drinking City". From the anchoring events like Strong Beer Month and Toronado Barleywine Festival to our beer tasting in Carmel Valley, crowds were large and enthusiastic.

We were thankful for the opportunity provided by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation to visit "America's Best Beer Drinking City" in March 2008. With a group of other beer writers, we were ushered around the greater Philly area to beer bars, brewpubs and to the opening of Philly Beer Week.

With December being the last month for the Year in Beer, we wanted to make it a special one. And what can be more special than a beer tour of Belgium. We had two main goals for the trip: visit all seven Trappist breweries and reach 450 breweries. The Year in Beer culminated at the Kerstbierfestival, a Belgian Christmas beer festival in the town of Essen.

We've been to San Diego on several occasions, but this was our first trip where beer was the focus. The San Diego beer scene did not disappoint. Traveling all over the expansive county, we visited a number of breweries, brewpubs and beer bars. Not only is the local brew world class, but the beer bars feature top notch beer lists.

The Great American Beer Festival is the premier beer gathering in the United States... it's certainly the largest in terms of breweries and beers. Over four sessions, four hundred plus breweries will pour almost two thousand different beers to legions of thirsty beer fans. The question is how do first time attendees find their way in this world of endless beer choice.

It is somewhat hard to fathom that in the ten years we have been traveling to Europe, we have never managed more than short visits to 'London. Thus, we had two goals for August's Year in Beer trip: 1. Attending the Great British Beer Festival 2. Venturing beyond the Capitol.

This was our ninth time at the Oregon Brewers Festival and there is still a buzz of freshness about it. For us, OBF has always been about good friends and good beer. Over the years, a bevy of other beer events have grown up around the festival, including tastings, beer dinners, and golf tournaments. The whole month of July is now dedicated to beer as Oregon Craft Beer Month and OBF is its culmination.

This was our eighth trip to Ireland and our second during summer solstice. Summer solstice in Ireland is pretty special - not for any hippie, new age reasons - it's just really cool to stumble out of a pub at half ten and have it still be light out. No matter how many times we travel to the Emerald Isle, we always meet interesting people and discover new things. It's different every time. Familiar and comfortable, yet fresh and exciting. That's what keeps us going back.

Boasting the largest concentration of breweries in the world, almost 300, Franconia is a beer travelers dream. From the famous breweries of Bamberg to the small family-run village brewhouses, the Franconian beer experience never disappoints. Add in a great beer festival and Franconia might be the ultimate beer destination. For the Year in Beer, we check out a few of the breweries and attend the Bergkirchweih Beer Festival.

We'll be the first to admit that we were skeptical of Seattle's lofty beer reputation. We'll also admit that it was mainly due to a lack of knowledge about the extent of their beer scene. We knew we needed to blaze a non-tourist path to really experience Seattle's beer culture. That's why we enlisted the help of our friend, Chris Devlin, to show us a local's perspective.

Just to show you that it not always about us... Our friend, Matt Venzke, won the coveted 'Beer Drinker of the Year' title and we were on hand to witness his triumph. This video highlights his masterful performance.

We returned to our beer roots in February when we visited the San Francisco Bay Area. Back in the late 1980s, this is where is all started for us and it was good seeing old friends... and some new ones too.

Our day spent in Traunstein was just supposed to be part of an episode about Bavaria. But after watching the footage, we realized that it answered a question asked of us frequently; what is beer travel. The attraction of Traunstein was that it has 4 breweries... or so we thought.

Who is thebeergeek.com

Merideth Canham Nelson’s appreciation of beer developed in 1992 while working at a multi-tap pub in Oakland, California. She wanted to be knowledgeable about the beer she was serving and the best way to do it was to visit the breweries themselves. Merideth has visited over 1,000 breweries in her beer travels. When she is not traveling, Merideth works as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Read more about Merideth

When not traveling Chris Nelson represents Discretion Brewing in Monterey County, as well as raises the couple’s dachshunds Wit, Hacker and Schwarz. In 2007, Chris, out of 7,800 applicants from 31 countries, was a final four candidate for Four Points by Sheraton’s coveted position of Chief Beer Officer. A beer traveler for 20 years, Chris has visited over 1,000 breweries throughout the world. Read more about Chris